Malaysian police have charged two people over the alleged theft of a sum equal to about AUD 29,000 from the bank accounts of four passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Malaysia’s government-owned news agency Bernama reported that an HSBC bank officer and her husband were charged at the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. They are accused of transferring and withdrawing money totalling 85,180 Malaysian ringgits (MYR) from the accounts of four victims of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, between May and July this year.

Her husband, Basheer Ahmad Maula Sahul Hameed, a 33-year-old mechanic, is facing four counts of allegedly using a debit and other cards belonging to one of the passengers to withdraw money from an ATM, news channel CNN has reported in the US.

Funds were also allegedly transferred to a fifth account belonging to Pakistani named Ali Faran Khan, who is still being sought by police.

Bernama said that on the first four counts, Nur Shila was accused of transferring money totalling MYR 40,000 from a Malaysian citizen Hue Pui Heng’s account into a Chinese citizen Tian Jun Wei’s account, and another MYR 35,000 into Ali Faran Khan’s account.

For that, she was charged under the Computer Crime Act 1997, which carries a maximum fine of MYR 150,000 or jail term of 10 years, or both, if convicted.

Nur Shila also faces three counts of using fake documents to apply for a new debit card in Tian’s name and to make two applications for local fund transfers from two savings accounts belonging to Ju Kun, a Chinese national, and Tan Size Hiang, a flight attendant.

Both defendants have pleaded not guilty. They have been released on bail and ordered to surrender their passports.

The first of the alleged offences was committed two months after flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.